HBT signature for clustered substructures probing primordial inhomogeneity in hot and dense QCD matter

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method using HBT interferometry to detect primordial inhomogeneities and substructures in hot, dense QCD matter created in non-central heavy-ion collisions, revealing potential spatial modulations.

Contribution

It proposes a novel approach to identify spatial substructures in QCD matter through HBT correlation peaks, advancing the understanding of inhomogeneity in such systems.

Findings

HBT correlation peaks correspond to spatial scales of inhomogeneity.

Simulations with the AMPT model show detectable signals of clustering.

The method could reveal primordial inhomogeneity in experimental data.

Abstract

We propose a novel approach to probe primordial inhomogeneity in hot and dense matter which could be realized in non-central heavy-ion collisions. Although the Hanbury Brown and Twiss (HBT) interferometry is commonly used to infer the system size, the cluster size should be detected if substructures emerge in space. We demonstrate that a signal peak in the HBT two-particle correlation stands at the relative momentum corresponding to the spatial scale of pseudo one-dimensional modulation. We assess detectability using the data prepared by an event generator (AMPT model) with clustering implemented in the particle distribution.